Sudan is on fire. Sunday evening, April 16, the attempts at mediation over the weekend had failed to bring back the slightest hope of a return to calm, leaving a little more fear of seeing a civil war set in, ignited by a fight for the power between two generals associated until now at the head of the ruling junta. From the early hours of Saturday, following a long rise in tensions, fighting broke out in several parts of the country. In the main cities, the Armed Forces of Sudan (FAS, regular army) led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane, leader of the junta which has been in charge of the country since 2021 (after a first overthrow of the dictatorship two years later early), and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as “Hemetti” (also number two in the junta), began to fight each other for control of military bases and airports . Since then, artillery fire and exchanges of automatic weapons have not ceased, reinforced in some cases by air strikes.
In the heart of the capital, Khartoum, an urban war is raging. Small groups of soldiers face each other. On foot, on pick-ups or armored vehicles surmounted by machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, the two camps clash in deserted streets. Residents remain holed up in their homes as shells and rockets rain down on residential neighborhoods.
The war began so abruptly that it surprised many inhabitants far from their homes, such as the hundred teenagers who had taken refuge in the basement of the Comboni school, located within firing range of the presidential palace, around which place of fighting. College students were taking their exams when the first explosions sounded on Saturday. “We’re stuck, with very little food and water, I don’t know how long we’ll last”explains Arkan Ojoo, a physical education teacher at the establishment, while outside, the bullets are flying.
“Two Fools”
On Sunday, neither side seemed to be able to take the lead decisively. An information war is being played out from the first shots, making it difficult to get an overview of military advances. With their fighter planes and helicopters, the FAS remain masters of the skies. The FSR failed to take control of all the army airbases. Saturday, the paramilitaries had nevertheless entered the international airport of Khartoum and said to control the republican palace, name of the presidential palace. But the trend seemed to be reversed Sunday evening after the FAS multiplied air strikes, destroying the headquarters of the FSR. The FAS command stated several times over the weekend that ” victory [était] close “. But on Sunday, the FSR sent significant reinforcements to the capital and the fighting redoubled in intensity north of the international airport, around the burnt-out FAS headquarters.
You have 64.81% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.